


a sneaking suspicion

by n1ghtl1ght



Category: DCU, DCU (Comics)
Genre: Awkwardness, Everyone Is Alive, Fluff and Humor, From Tim's POV, Light-Hearted, M/M, One Shot, Sneaking Around, Some platonic timdami that came out of no where- it even surprised me, also a bit of fudging of both pre52 and new52
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-27
Updated: 2018-06-27
Packaged: 2019-05-29 03:44:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,021
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15064397
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/n1ghtl1ght/pseuds/n1ghtl1ght
Summary: Tim’s been away from Gotham a while and upon his return, he’s suspicious about what is going on between Jason and Dick. Dick thinks Tim should figure it out himself considering he’s supposedly the world’s second greatest detective, that and he doesn’t want to do the explaining.





	a sneaking suspicion

**Author's Note:**

> I don’t have a beta reader so sorry for any mistakes. That’s all my fault. I expected this to be a shorter one shot (something around 2000, 3000 tops) but it ran away a bit and I didn’t spend as much time sanding it down and fixing as I could have. 
> 
> I also had to stop adding scenes because Tim is meant to be very clever and, I realised the more I added, the stupider Tim would look and I already felt I was doing him a disservice in the intelligence category, which should be a red flag for Tim.
> 
> Typical fudging of both pre52, new52/rebirth and other universe elements because it's my fanfiction and my own reading is a patchy combo I've been cobbling together for a few years, so I rarely keep them separate in my own head. The most important thing is that Jason has his white hair streak because I say so.

The first time Tim noticed _something_ was up, was when he returned to Gotham. It wasn’t that he’d been gone completely, but he’d let himself get wrapped up in Teen Titans business, and any time he spent in Gotham in the last two months had been brief and definitely not spent crimefighting, considering his visits to Gotham were functioning as his downtime from crimefighting.

Dick was in Gotham, which wasn’t too strange, after all, he’d mentioned something about Bruce and Damian being overloaded, and that Blüdhaven could wait. Dick spending a lot of time in Gotham wasn’t odd. Tim had still been skeptical though, but sure enough, at night the city was bustling with activity from fully fledged villains- not just petty criminals, and it required the touch of multiple heroes to deal with it. Which was how Red Robin found himself roped into some ridiculous fight, if you could call it that, against Poison Ivy. It was just him and Nightwing because Batman and the brat were off dealing with Scarecrow who had conveniently decided to attack the same night. Neither of them wanted to admit it, but they were struggling, and Nightwing was doing _all_ the fighting work.

The whole battle was taking place on a multi-layered warehouse, and Tim was getting himself tied up in Ivy’s vines every five seconds while trying to scale the ladder up to the next level. Though he could easily slice through them, it was slowing him down and preventing him from reaching Dick, who desperately needed help. He wished he’d just thought to grapple in the first place, but now he was in the tangle of vines with a damaged glider, that was no longer an option. Dick was closer to Ivy, up a level from Tim, though still down one from her, and obscured from view, but he’d been blasted with one of her plant pollens. He didn’t know the exact effects, but from what he’d let Tim know over the comms, it seemed that it made movements sloppier and sluggish, not ideal when you're in the middle of combat. Dick was a skilled enough fighter that he wasn’t losing as he clashed with one of Ivy’s goons, but he certainly wasn’t winning either and stressed the importance of Tim getting up there to help him ASAP.

A cry of frustration drifted down from above him, before Dick grumbled over the comms that another goon had entered the scene and had joined in on attacking him. Tim was getting closer, dragging himself towards the top of the rickety ladder through the tangle of vines, when something dusty exploded across his face, _one of Ivy’s pollens,_ Red Robin coughing and wheezing as he tried to scale the last of the ladder, retracting one hand, to smear the gunk from his face, but not before he’d inhaled plenty of it, a sickly sweet floral smell was assaulting his nostrils. It was clear though that he wasn’t close enough still, he knew Dick was going to lose a fight against two goons in this state _, they were in trouble_ and-

The sound of shattering glass and gunshots and thumping like two heavy sacks hitting the floor above shook Tim from his panicked thoughts. His initial instinct was fear that _Dick_ had been hit, _shot,_ but his worries were deterred when he heard a cheerful, but tired, exclamation of, “Hood!” That was followed by quiet mumbling that Tim couldn’t make out, all he knew is that he’d gone from worry to relief to confusion in record time.

He finally was able to pull himself up over the edge of the flooring, off the stairs, panting heavily as he knelt on the unsteady wooden flooring, trying to catch his breath. _That was unusual._ He shouldn't be _so_ exhausted _._

“Oh, you’re here too,” Red Hood said, standing up, from where he was crouched down in front of a worn-out Nightwing, Tim didn’t register it in the moment, but he’d later think back to how close together they'd been.

Tim found himself slowed and was quick to pin it on the pollen, but he hadn’t realized how badly it’d affected him until he tried to stand up. Jason reached a hand out to help him up and he took it, but not without stumbling forwards, Jason’s arms shooting out to hold him up by the shoulders as he did, “You okay?” Tim nodded, looking up too quickly sending his stomach lurching and vision swaying. Tim wondered whether this was the same pollen that Dick had been hit with and if so, how Dick had managed to keep fighting like this because his coordination was practically nonexistent. Either Ivy had dosed him with something far more substantial or he was having a far worse reaction to the pollen than his brother.

Dick was at his side and Tim noted that he must have forced himself to his feet while Tim was focused on staying on his, he stumbled slightly on his feet but unlike Tim was mostly fine, sliding next to him and tugging Tim’s arm over his shoulder, bending his legs slightly to be on Tim’s level, “Thank you, Jay,” Dick said, relief evident in his voice, “I don’t know what we’d have done if you weren’t here.” When Dick was closer, he noticed that there was a similar golden dusting powdered around the neck of his suit, as the substance that had hit him square in the face a few minutes prior.

“Well I’m sure Bats would have shown up to save your asses eventually,” Jason replied, humor lacing his tone, “You okay to walk, Dickiebird?” His face wasn't visible but his voice sounded concerned, “I mean you’re not going to be finishing this tonight, but you can get both of you back?”

“Yeah, I’m fine Jay, thanks.” Out of the corner of his eye, Tim _thought_ he caught a subtle blush on Dick’s cheeks. His analytical side reminded him though, that Dick had also just taken part in a physically exerting fight and had some unknown drug pumping through his veins. It was unclear as to what caused the flush of red on Dick’s cheeks, that might not have even been there considering Tim was also occasionally seeing two Red Hoods in his swimming vision. He let out a low groan at his predicament, having to rest nearly his entire weight against Nightwing. He was beginning to feel embarrassed about that since Dick had been hit with some kind of pollen too and was stood here practically carrying Tim.

“Well, you’ve lost Ivy, but I can take these two with me if you want?” Jason asked, gesturing towards the unconscious goons, who’d been shot, but not lethally, Tim mentally noted.

Dick was nodding, “That’d be great,” He winced, “I can’t believe we lost her though.”  _Tim could believe it just fine._

Jason shrugged, “You just weren’t equipped, don’t let the Bat give you shit about it,” Tim flinched at that, but Dick _didn’t_ , chuckling in response to Jason’s ever so subtle slander of Bruce, “But I really think you should start covering your mouths when facing Ivy,” Jason tapped an index finger to his helmet, “Because you’re making it incredibly easy for her to get you drugged-up out of your minds.” He gestured towards Tim, who perked his head up at that, a wave of discomfort passing through him at how most of the stickiness was _still_ coating his face.

“Yeah, I know,” Dick shrugged, “That probably wasn’t the smartest, but we didn’t think we were going to be facing Ivy tonight.” He turned his head to the side, to look at Tim sympathetically, “And I didn’t think one of Ivy’s concoctions could have such an effect.”

Jason nodded again and then there was a silence, but not an awkward one. Jason and Dick were just _looking at each other_ , while Tim wobbled on his feet, seemingly forgotten about. Jason leaned forwards slightly to rest a hand on Dick’s shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze, “Be careful?”

“Of course,” Dick replied, smiling softly at Jason, “You be careful too, Jay!”

Tim wrenched his head up so that his eyes could dart between them, probably less subtly than he’d have liked considering the state he was in. He was finding this _weird_. It wasn’t that he was currently on bad terms with Jason, or at least he didn’t think he was, but last time he checked, Jason helping with bat business wasn’t particularly common due to their differing moral codes. Jason bursting in to help them struck him as slightly strange; his and Dick’s comfortableness with each other struck him as even stranger. He was aware that they weren’t on bad terms either, but they were acting _very_ friendly and Tim didn’t think they were on terms _that_ good.

As Dick was hauling Tim’s useless body towards his motorcycle, a slight sway in his own step, and propping him up in the passenger seat, he must have clued into Tim’s suspicion, “Since Gotham is so overrun currently, Red Hood has been a major help.” Tim still wasn’t convinced, he was suspicious, and he didn’t know exactly why. His investigative skills weren’t fantastic in that specific moment because of the way his head felt like it was full of cotton wool and he was having to pour fifty percent of his mental capacity in to not falling over. He realized that so long as Ivy managed to hit him too, that even if he _had_ gotten up to help Dick he’d have been no use, so Jason showing up really _was_ a major help.

In his drugged-up state, Tim allowed himself to rest, arms wrapped tightly around Dick as he drove them back to the Batcave. If he wasn’t so out of it, he’d have had grievances with Dick driving while intoxicated, but as tired as he was, he allowed it, slipping into a restful state.

Tim’s suspicions were later heightened when they’d returned to the Batcave. Tim was no longer overcome with the effects of the pollen and so back to his perceptive self. Therefore he didn’t miss it when Bruce was surprised to hear Jason turned up, “Really, Red Hood helped you out?” Bruce's tone was slightly judgmental as if he disapproved of Jason's help, which Tim thought they'd have moved past at this point, though not entirely surprised.

Tim’s suspicious glance was turned back on Dick who shot him a nervous smile before explaining to Bruce, “Yes, he heard we were struggling so was nice enough to offer some help.” Tim also made a mental note of how Damian strutted off without a word at Dick’s response. Dick’s face fell and he shifted on his feet slightly, as if planning to follow him, but deciding against it.

Bruce replied, “Well Nightwing,” He paused, as if reluctant to continue, “Thank him next time you see him.” Tim didn’t fail to pick up on the fact that Bruce assumed Dick would be seeing Jason again, sooner than any of the rest of them. That could just mean Dick was more likely to be working with Jason as Nightwing. That’s probably what it meant. _But it could mean something else._

 

* * *

 

The next time Tim sees something weird, is when he’s patrolling. The city has finally died down a week later, but interestingly, Dick hadn’t returned to Blüdhaven and was quite happy remaining in Gotham. He also hadn’t reported to the rest of the bats that night, which was fair enough now that the villainy issue seemed to be back under control. When Tim caught a glimpse of Nightwing as he quietly glided on to the other end of the high rooftop, he was surprised. He’d figured maybe Dick was taking a break from Nightwing for the night, but it seemed he'd just taken to doing some solo work, which made sense. Most of the work Dick in would do in Blüdhaven was independent, and working in a team can be suffocating at times, especially when it was with someone like Bruce.

Tim could only see part of Dick, the rest of him obscured by a rooftop water tower, but the shock of blue and on black was unmistakable, “Nightwing?” He called out and saw Dick’s shoulders jerk in response. Dick turned around from sitting at the edge of the rooftop, face surprised.

“Oh, hi Ti-- Red Robin,” He fumbled with his words, “I was just--”

Dick had inherited some of that workaholicism from Bruce, so Tim’s assumption was that he was embarrassed to be caught taking some downtime, “You’re allowed a break, I didn't even think you were working tonight. I wasn’t sent to tell you to get ba--”

Tim’s hurried speech faltered when Jason emerged from behind the water tower, following Dick and without his Red Hood helmet. Tim frowns, chewing on his lip as he leans into Dick’s ear to whisper something, and Dick replies, also too quiet for Tim to hear. This was the second time he felt like he was intruding on something  _intimate_ between Red Hood and Nightwing, the calm silence they shared the week before coming to mind.

Tim wanted to avert his eyes to grant them privacy, but a spark of curiosity in him fought back against the urge. Before he could decide which instinct to give in to, Jason’s helmet was back on his head. Jason bellowed out, “We should catch-up sometime Tim,” As he stepped backward and he’s grappling off from the roof away from them before Tim has the opportunity to yell anything back to him.

Out of the corner of his eye, Tim catches Dick tugging at the collar of his Nightwing suit, straightening it out from where it was pushed down and scrunched up around the base of his neck, “I was working with Red Hood, and we were taking a break,” He said coolly, as he strode towards Tim, “Gotham isn’t as busy as it has been in the past few nights so…”

Tim squinted, “So why haven’t you gone back to Blüdhaven?” Tim reeled off quickly before he could stop himself, it sounded at best accusative, and at worst like he wanted Dick gone from Gotham, “I didn’t mean it like--”

Dick nodded, “No, I know you didn’t mean it like _that_ Tim, it’s fine.” He was assured but Dick had managed to not answer his question, the first Robin’s gaze sweeping out over the Gotham rooftops.

Tim decided to push his luck, “But really, why are you…” He trailed off as Dick cocked his head to the side, recognizing the cogs turning in Tim’s head.

“Well Timmy, you’re supposedly the world’s second greatest detective...” Dick’s tone was teasing.

“So?” He had a feeling he knew where this was going.

The corners of Dick’s mouth quirked up in a mischievous smile, “So why don’t you figure this mystery out for yourself?” And Dick strode off to the end of the roof, before diving off into a front-flip, the bright blue of Dick’s suit disappearing from view as he bounced away, swallowed up by shadows and Gotham’s choking fog.

 

* * *

 

Tim was glad Dick wasn’t mad at him for being so nosy, but his lack of elaboration was frustrating and even though Tim had _ideas_ , he didn’t want to assume. Mainly because if he was wrong in his assumptions it could be very awkward. Probably more so for himself; he was sure Damian would delight in Tim’s embarrassment because he jumped the gun and guessed Jason and Dick’s relationship had surpassed ‘brotherly’.

Dick was working more in Gotham instead of Blüdhaven, which had made sense at first- Gotham was overrun with villains, and needed an extra pair of hands, that was fair enough. The more suspicious part was that the sudden influx of villainy had stopped, and Dick was still very much in Gotham, and on top of that, he and Jason seemed… _close._ He’d not have thought anything too weird about it based on just the first encounter, after all, he wasn’t in his right mind thanks to Poison Ivy, it was easy to brush off. If it wasn’t for catching them spending time together on the rooftop the night before as well, he wouldn’t be sat awake in bed overanalyzing all the interactions he’d witnessed between them. Maybe it was a little weird to be this invested in his older brothers’ ( _was that an appropriate way to view them considering his suspicions?_ ) relationship status, but Dick had practically encouraged him to investigate.

If he wanted to get to the bottom of this, he was probably going to have to ask some of the other bats what they knew. His immediate thought was Bruce: Bruce would probably know what was up. In fact, scratch that, Bruce would _definitely_ know; Bruce assuming Dick would see Jason sooner than the rest of them came to mind. The thing there was, Tim didn’t want to ask Bruce, the idea of _gossiping_ with _Batman_ was too weird and he doubted Bruce would be happy to indulge Tim in all of Dick’s secrets, even if Dick didn’t seem to be bothered at the idea of Tim knowing.

Tim begrudgingly had come to accept that Damian was probably the second most likely to have an inkling of what was going on.

“Can you convince Grayson to spend more time with me?”

“ _What_?”

Damian narrowed his eyes, “Well, if you don’t want my help…”

Tim shook his head, “No I was just,” He halted, trying to find the correct words, he didn’t want to tell Damian he thought it was funny nor did he want to mention it was actually kind of cute, “I was surprised.”

Damian glared up at him, before adding further context, “I thought when he got back to Gotham, he’d be able to spend time with me again, but..”

 _Oh,_ “He’s spending time with _Jason_?”

Damian’s face scrunched up, “Yes. He does seem to like to spend time with Todd.”

“Is that all you know or?” Damian was already proving himself to be a valuable source of information, and as young and immature as Damian could be, Dick was close to him so surely he confided in him at least somewhat.

“I will continue on this train of thought if you agree to talk to him."

“You know that’ll be very obvious,” Tim replied, deadpan.

“Tell him I was annoying you.” Followed by a noxious glare.

“Okay, that might work...” Damian was looking up at him expectantly, “As in, yes. I will tell Dick to spend more time with you.” Tim admitted to himself, with some reluctance, that it was sweet to see Damian so attached to his older brother, it was good to know that the brat had someone he was close to.

Damian smiled slyly, “Okay, well Grayson began to spend more time in Gotham, _before_ it was,” Damian made quotation marks with his fingers, “ _Overrun with villains_.”

“So--”

“I’m not finished yet,” Damian snapped, “And since he’s come back, despite having a room here at the manor, which Father offered him, he has only stayed here about half the time, and doesn’t specify the other location he’s staying.”

Damian glanced at Tim, as if prompting him to speak, though Tim waited a few seconds to ensure Damian really _did_ want him to speak this time, before replying, “So you think he’s staying with…”

“Todd, yes.” Both he and Damian clearly knew the implication, but neither said anything, Tim _couldn’t_ , he was investigating because had to be _sure_.

“How long has he been back in Gotham exactly?”

Damian chewed on his lip briefly before answering, “Six weeks.”

Tim didn’t want to push his luck with Damian, but he still had questions, “Did he seem close at all with Jason _before_ he came back to Gotham?”

Damian actually had to think about this one, stroking his chin and pouting his lips, a frown gracing his face, “He was coming over here more in general, but still returning to Blüdhaven, and when he came over, he _did_ seem to spend a disproportionate time working with Todd.”

Tim nodded, “So do you know their current relationship statu--”

“No.” Tim wasn’t entirely convinced by that, but he also didn’t want to push Damian, lest he go tell Dick he was snooping around. Not that he thought Dick would really care, in fact, he’d practically encouraged him to snoop, but Tim wanted to be _good_ at snooping. He was going to have a hard enough time organically fitting a call for Dick to hang out more with his brat of a little brother into a conversation as it was.

“Well, thank you for your help, Damian.”

“Don’t forget to speak to Grayson abou--”

“I won’t!” Tim cut him off, rolling his eyes as he left the room.

 

* * *

 

Tim got a chance to inform Dick that Damian wanted his attention the next day, after another rather uneventful night out on patrol. Despite not doing much that night, Tim found himself exhausted, having not slept many hours the night before and staying awake with the aid of caffeine. He’d had to wait for a time when Damian wasn’t present because that just wouldn't work and so as he and Dick were pulling in to the Batcave, he hastily mentioned, “Uh, I think Damian wants to spend more time with you?”

Sounding mildly curious, though not extremely because Tim imagined Damian demanding moments of his time wasn't a rare occurrence, Dick perked his head up, “Oh?” A prompt to continue.

“He was bothering me, but when I got down to it, I think he misses spending time with you so much so--”

Dick was chuckling, “Damian was pestering you and you want me to take him off your hands?” Tim felt guilty, even if Damian was the one who put him up to this, but Dick quickly continued, “I know you two don’t always get along, it’s fine, and come to think of it, I might as well considering I'm in Gotham. Afterall, I miss spending so much time with him, even if--“

“He can be a brat?” Tim finished for him. Dick glanced behind himself to shoot a disapproving look towards him in response but didn’t correct what he’d said, so Tim figured he’d been accurate.

Dick stopped his motorbike, “Okay, off you get.”

“What, are you going back out?” Tim frowned, “We both saw, there’s nothing happening.”

Dick shook his head, “No, I’m just staying somewhere else tonight.”

_Oh._

Tim hadn’t noticed Dick’s slipping off to stay elsewhere within the two weeks he’d been back, at least he hadn’t before Damian mentioning it the day before. After that, Tim realized when he came to think of it, while Dick had stayed at the manor for most of the nights since he’d been back, he hadn’t on  _all_ nights. He mainly seemed to not be there on the ones when he wasn’t working with the other bats in the first place, and so that, paired with the fact he wasn’t unused to Dick rushing back to Blüdhaven after a night in Gotham, had lead to him not noticing the obvious. Dick had somewhere else to stay in Gotham.

 _But just to be sure,_ “Back to Blüdhaven?” He slipped off the back of Dick’s motorcycle, eyeing him suspiciously.

“Oh, no,” Dick smiled, and Tim was certain of the flush on his cheeks this time, “Somewhere else.”

Tim pressed his lips together before questioning further, “You have an apartment in Gotham now or?”

Dick shook his head in response but offered no further elaboration.

“ _So?”_ Tim prompted, despite knowing he wasn’t getting a straight answer from Nightwing tonight.

Dick smiled back at him, “So?” He repeated, teasingly, before restarting the motorcycle’s engine, “See you tomorrow night Tim, and _please_ get some sleep!” And he drove off, leaving Tim even more suspicious than he’d been before.

Despite previously _not_ wanting to gossip with Batman, after Dick left, he found himself unable to resist at least covertly asking him some questions. Bruce could probably (definitely) tell what he was trying to figure out, Tim well aware he was tired and likely far more sloppy in his furtiveness, but at least took pity upon him, and didn't draw too much attention to it.

“ _So_ is Red Hood working with us nowadays?” It didn’t sound as casual as Tim had intended, and he considered whether it was his lack of sleep that had prompted this poor decision.

Bruce had already slid into his seat in front of the Batcomputer, his gaze locked on the screen as he brought up various cases to look at, “No,” He glanced behind to see Tim hovering awkwardly by the seat, “He helps out sometimes, but we’re not _working_ with him. Our methods are too different.”

Tim could tell what Bruce was referring to, “Last week when he helped me and Nightwing he didn’t kill anyone,” Tim offered.

Bruce nodded, “That was one occasion.” He typed some more and Tim considered maybe the conversation was over but then Bruce continued, “He works far more with Nightwing than he does with the rest of us though,” The focus on Nightwing. _Bruce definitely knew what he was really asking,_ “And I think working with Nightwing has instilled him with more of a moral code.”

“Because he doesn’t want to upset Dick?” Tim rubbed his eyes and yawned, he was definitely too tired to be quizzing Bruce on this. He felt a subtle pang of embarrassment at acting so barefaced in his exhaustion.

Bruce shrugged, “It does seem he wants to stay on Nightwing’s good side,” He paused as if considering whether he wanted to devolve this information to Tim, “I just want to be sure that he’s genuinely changed his ways and this isn’t temporary. Nightwing seems convinced it’s genuine but…” _He’s worried about Dick._ Bruce didn’t continue the train of thought, “Isn’t it late Tim? I suggest you get some sleep, you’re normally far more discreet.” That was the end of that conversation, and Bruce was right. He _wasn’t_ being very discreet, he was being the opposite: glaringly obvious.

Before Tim could even consider it himself, Bruce added, “And no, coffee isn’t a substitute for sleep.” Tim thought maybe Bruce should take his own advice, the bags under his eyes telling tales of sleep deprivation himself, but that thought didn’t last long. Tim fell asleep the moment his head hit the pillow, robbing him of the opportunity to replay his interactions that night, and further theorize about Dick’s love life.

 

* * *

 

It was the afternoon, and Tim wasn’t paying attention to the work he had on the screen of his laptop, his mind focused on what he’d uncovered about Jason and Dick’s relationship. It was nice to be investigating something unserious, after so much mentally taxing work with the Titans, this was a pleasant change.

No one had outright said it, but it was clear that Dick and Jason were together. He didn’t know how long it’d taken for their relationship to blossom, but he knew from Damian that six weeks ago Dick relocated back to Gotham, assumedly to spend more time with Jason, though this conveniently correlated with a sudden rise in villain activity in Gotham, giving Dick a decent excuse to offer up when asked. Despite staying at Wayne Manor half the time, Dick was somewhere else for the other half, and it didn’t take a genius of Tim’s caliber to decipher that Dick was staying with Jason the rest of the time.

Aside from their personal relationship though, Jason was also working with Nightwing as Red Hood, despite it seeming like Bruce wasn’t entirely fond of the idea. Tim had clued into his fear that Jason was just abiding by their moral code only to appease Dick, and by extension was likely cautious of Dick being involved with Jason in general. Tim doubted he needed to go to Dick and alert him he’d pieced together what he’d unveiled about his relationship with Jason, he imagined Dick would know he’d piece together something so obvious by now.

Tim had also supposed there was a reason Dick let Tim decipher it himself, rather than straight up tell him, the first reason obviously being it could just be plain awkward to explain. That was fair enough, but he harbored some inkling their other family members had something to do with it as well. Damian for starters stormed out at the mere mention of Jason and revealed the second Tim tried to question him that he was jealous his older brother was spending time with someone else. The conclusion to be drawn here was that Dick simply didn’t like upsetting the current Robin and wanted to avoid reminding him that he had other people to spend his time with.

It wasn’t as big a deal as Bruce, Damian’s reaction was immature, though understandable coming from a young boy and was likely blow over, Bruce’s wasn’t. In fact, Bruce’s disapproval seemed to stem from a combination of concern for Dick and objection towards Jason’s differing moral code. Bruce had been hesitant to tell Dick to thank Jason, and upon talking to him was quick to deny collaboration, though it didn’t seem he was being stubborn for the sake of it. During their conversation the night before, it’d felt as if Bruce _wanted_ to trust Jason, both as a partner in the cowl-and-cape kind of work and as a partner to Dick but was just cautious to. Bruce would likely come to his own conclusion when he felt Jason had sufficiently proved himself as innocuous, though Tim could imagine the frustration it could cause for Jason and Dick, leading to Dick’s reluctance to bring Jason up within the Bat’s presence.

Tim wondered if maybe Dick even feared Tim would have some unexpected negative reaction to the relationship as well, considering the other two had. Luckily Tim’s only real issue with it was that he found it kind of strange, but if Dick and Jason were happy with it he was happy. He highly doubted Jason would harm Dick on purpose, considering the genuine concern he’d shown when he’d come to his and Tim’s aid, and a quick rifle through various records informed him that Red Hood had stopped from fully killing anyone eight weeks ago, and prior to that had been slowing down on doing so for some time. He didn’t doubt that Dick absolutely had a hand in it, but he also figured that this wasn’t only a hasty decision made by Jason to impress Dick and his reform went deeper than that.

Tim was snapped out of his thoughts, almost dropping the laptop balanced on his leg, as Damian threw the door to the lounge Tim was residing in open, looking unimpressed as ever. Tim weighed up in his head whether he was in the mood to have a conversation with the Bat’s youngest, glancing towards the preteen expectantly.

“I…” Damian shifted his glare to his left at nothing in particular, “I would like to thank you, Drake.”

Tim had to stifle a laugh at Damian, his obvious distaste at thanking Tim for anything, and unnecessary formality. He briefly wondered if he should ask Damian if Dick put him up to this because he probably did. Dick probably realized the only reason Tim had asked him to spend time with Damian was that Tim promised to in exchange for information. Damian _could_ have betrayed the secrecy of their deal, though Tim was fairly sure the brat at least had _some_ code of honor. Probably more of one than Tim if he was honest, considering the fact he briefly wondered if he could get away with just not fulfilling the younger's request.

He decided against it though, in favor of not burning the few bridges he was building with Damian, “That’s okay, Dick made time for you, I take it?”

Damian nodded, “He took me to the arcade,” _cute,_ “I’m far superior to him at any of the games, however.” That was slightly less cute, but Tim admitted that now he’d warmed to him, Damian’s arrogance was even growing on him slightly. If someone told him he’d be seeing his annoying adoptive little brother’s superiority complex as anything other than insufferable when he’d first met him, he’d scoff at the idea.

He couldn’t believe the next words that came out of his mouth but before he knew it, he was offering Damian a favor free of charge, “If you ever want me to remind him again, let me know.”

Damian was clearly just as surprised at this, his eyes widening, and a stunned silence before he was sputtering out, “I... Really?” Genuinely surprised, his words not spoken in his typical distinguished, rehearsed-sounding fashion, and his usual composure lost.

Tim nodded, “I’m sure you’ll be able to find me?”

Damian’s bright green eyes glinted and pressed his lips together into a subtle smile, it was the most Tim had ever gotten out of him, besides Damian smirking and laughing at his misfortune, so he considered it a success. “Well. Thank you, Drake, I will see you later, so long as you’re coming on patrol.”

Tim hummed in response and even waved as Damian left the room, still processing the fact they’d had a positive interaction with him, but not unhappy with it. Steph would probably be glad to hear Tim was being a little nicer to the youngest Robin; she’d been sure to make him aware that she didn’t approve of his hostility towards him in the past.

 

* * *

 

Red Robin was at this point wondering if they were getting worse at crimefighting, considering this was the second time in two weeks he and Nightwing were failing spectacularly at it. Maybe that was too harsh on them, but he was frustrated that he’d let Nightwing rush in and get incapacitated after severely misjudging how long it’d take to reach him. He was also frustrated with himself for not recognizing the obvious. The obvious in this case not being that Jason and Dick were in a relationship (though that was also obvious), but that Poison Ivy and Scarecrow’s simultaneous attacks were not coincidences. Just over a week ago, the two villains had launched joint attacks, overstretching Gotham’s bats, and now that they were doing it again, it was clear it wasn’t just by chance it’d happened on the same night.

Batman and Robin had rushed to deal with Poison Ivy immediately, while Red Robin had been dealing with petty criminals while on patrol, Scarecrow’s attack unbeknownst to the heroes at that point. When the news that Scarecrow was also attacking came through, Nightwing had been the only one entirely free and had rushed to the location, engaging Scarecrow based on Red Robin’s assurance he’d be there as backup within five minutes. Tim’s petty criminal problem, however, had proven more troublesome than he’d first assumed, and Nightwing had been dosed with Scarecrow’s fear toxin in the extra time it’d taken for him to arrive. He felt a pang of sympathy as he caught a glimpse of Dick writhing on the floor, before he quickly unfolded a gas mask from his utility belt, remembering Red Hood’s advice the last time he’d been hit with a drug by a villain, and not wanting a repeat of the embarrassment he’d experienced the week prior.

Tim heard Dick whine pitifully, as he launched himself at Scarecrow, twirling his bo-staff, before throwing himself into a battle. Scarecrow grunted, stumbling backward as he swung at him repeatedly, the weapon impacting again and again, knocking the villain to his knees when he swept the staff across the floor, taking his legs out from under him. He registered the sound of someone else crashing through the window, almost allowing himself to be distracted from the fight, though at the yell of, “Focus on Scarecrow, I’ve got Nightwing,” Tim turned his full attention back towards Scarecrow, swatting at his arms when he tried to push himself back to his feet.

Scarecrow relied on his fear toxins and proved a less formidable enemy without them, Tim hardly struggling to beat him down and cuff him. “When the police arrive, you’ll be going to Arkham,” Tim stated, not as boldly as he’d have liked as the gas mask muffled his voice, “As well as answering some questions regarding Poison Ivy.”

The sound of Dick’s whimpering, now dampened slightly, interrupted his thought process, snapping his awareness from the villain; he turned his head to see Red Hood tending to Nightwing, his tone all soft mumbles and gentle whispers. He hadn’t fully acknowledged that it was Jason when he’d arrived but his mind on auto-pilot decided it was someone trustworthy enough that he could turn his focus Scarecrow. Jason was kneeling and had hefted Dick up into his lap, his trembling form cradled against his chest. Despite still wearing his helmet, the bottom half of Jason’s face was pressed to Dick’s forehead mimicking him planting soft kisses across it, and Tim suddenly felt guilty as if he was intruding on a private moment for a third time.

"I’m. I’m Sorry” He stuttered out to Jason, who lifted his head from Dick’s, tugging him into the crook of his neck. Tim was fairly sure if he’d gotten here when he said he would, this wouldn’t have happened to Dick. Not to mention he was feeling another wave of guilt for invading on their intimacy once more.

“What?” Jason shook his head, “No this isn’t _your_ fault.” The sentence ended awkwardly as if Jason had intended to add ‘Tim’ on to the end of it, before remembering not to say his name when villains were around.

“Well actually I underestimated how long it’d take to deal with something,” He explained, “Which is why I was late to help Nightwing, and--”

Jason shook his head, “Well when Nightwing isn’t out of it, you can apologize to him, I think you did a pretty good job,” He nodded towards the immobilized form of Scarecrow, and Tim’s pride swelled slightly, maybe he _did_ do a pretty good job.

“Well, thank you, Red Hood,” His eyes drifted over Dick, “For helping Nightwing.”

Jason nodded, “I don’t know if he’s really aware of what’s going on,” Jason ran a hand through his hair, rubbing gently at his head, “I’m more here for my own peace of mind.”

“You want to make sure he’s okay,” Tim stated.

“Of course. I mean, even if he doesn’t know I’m here right now,” Jason continued, rubbing gently at Dick's shoulder, “Do you have a cure for this because if not I’m going to take him with me.” Tim noted that Jason didn’t pose it as a question.

Tim shook his head, “It’s a new strain from any he's used before, it does wear off after a few hours but Batman has been developing an immediate antidote since the last encounter, but we don’t have it ready yet, and I think it’ll still be a few days… But uh--”

Jason glanced towards him, his face wasn’t visible but from the way his shoulders tensed and he tilted his head, Tim could tell he was assessing him. He thought about the fact that Bruce would undoubtedly be unhappy if he let Jason scoop Dick up, and he didn’t like to go against Bruce’s wishes if he could help it, but he trusted Jason. Maybe Bruce should start trusting Jason too. “Have you checked his vitals? Is he okay? Are you going right now?” Tim asked quickly, causing Jason’s posture to relax.

“Yeah, I checked him over, he’s not hurting in any other ways, he’s just scared out of his mind, and yeah. I’m still not exactly on the best terms with the cops,” Jason explained, as he changed his position, slipping one arm under Dick’s legs, and the other down over his back, “So you’ll understand if I want to bolt.” As Jason shifted, he caught a glimpse of Dick’s face and was saddened. His eyes were closed tightly, with a pained expression tugging at his features. Despite Jason stroking it away from his face, there were still some wet strands of hair plastered to his forehead with sweat. Dick’s face shone, and Tim couldn’t tell if it was more sweat, Dick’s body stressed from the induced fear of the toxin, or if he was crying out of terror. Regardless, seeing Dick in such a state was hard, and Tim was almost relieved that Jason was going to whisk the unpleasant sight away and deal with him instead.

Tim nodded in response, “Yeah, that’s fine, just,” His eyes softened as he watched Jason groan, heaving Dick’s immobile body up in his arms, “Take care of him.”

“I will, and we _still_ need to catch up some time,” And Jason was leaving, as he quickly paced towards the exit, Tim could hear him speaking in hushed tones to Dick. Dick was undeniably not aware of his surroundings, but even so, it seemed his body sagged, muscles relaxing as if he inherently felt safe in the other’s arms.

Just as Red Hood left with Nightwing in tow, Batman’s voice came through over the comms, “Red Robin, I’m aware Nightwing was compromised but how are you? What’s Nightwing’s status?”

Tim suddenly wondered if he should have put his foot down and told Jason that Dick was staying with him after all rather than bearing the repercussions of not doing things exactly how Bruce wanted them to be done, “I actually took Scarecrow down and am waiting on the GCPD to collect him,” Tim trailed off, glancing at the exit to the building.

“And _Nightwing?_ ” Batman prompted.

“I. Yeah, _Red Hood_ showed up actually.”

A pause. “And he took Nightwing, didn’t he?” The tone was unimpressed, with an edge of disbelief and 'maybe I should have seen this coming', but Tim was at least glad he didn’t need to finish confessing he’d allowed Red Hood to run off carrying the oldest Robin. “See you back at the Batcave, you can report fully to me _then_.”

 

* * *

 

“I lost track of how many times I told him Jason had checked you over,” Tim grumbled, “And he still _acted_ like he was unsure.” It was two nights later, and Red Robin and Nightwing were sat on the same rooftop Tim had found Nightwing and Red Hood earlier in the week. Gotham’s criminal activity was lowered once more, so the two were taking the opportunity to catch-up while waiting on the comms for any orders from Batman.

Dick chuckled, before frowning in slight confusion, turning to Tim, “ _Acted_?” He questioned, curiosity lacing his tone.

“I think he trusts Jason more than he lets on,” Tim explained, “The tracker in your suit. He could have come and found you, I even saw him looking at the maps on the computer before I went to bed, but he didn’t.”

Dick smiled and hummed before replying, “Well, that’s great to know.” He sighed, “I was really starting to worry he wasn’t going to budge and anytime I so much as mentioned Jason, I’d be confronted with passive aggression.” Dick's light-hearted tone dropped to a bitter grumble towards the end.

Tim could understand Bruce’s concern for Dick, but he’d seen Jason three times since returning and could already recognize that he genuinely cared about him, _a lot,_ “I don’t know if he’s quite past the passive aggressive stage yet, but this is at least evidence he’ll come around. It’s just taking him a while because as we both know, he’s stubborn.”

“I’m glad it seems he _is_ coming around but…” Dick’s shoulders sagged, “I really hope it’s soon. I don’t want to leave on awkward terms.”

“ _Leave?_ ”

“I’m not going _far_ Tim,” Dick smiled wide, “I’m just going back to Blüdhaven. More permanently again.” Dick explained.

“What about Jas--“

“He’s coming with me. I mean, Gotham has a lot of heroes, but for Blüdhaven, most of the time it’s just me,” Dick looked downwards, almost guiltily and Tim could tell he regretted abandoning the city, if only for a short while, “And if there’s another increase in villain activity, it’s easy for us to come back.”

“Because that’s definitely the reason you began staying in Gotham again in the first place,” Tim couldn’t stop himself from snarking back.

Dick giggled, “You got me,” he grinned at Tim, “Also, make sure to catch up with Jay before we move. I know you can always visit, but I think it’d be nice.”

“I will, it’s just all the other times I’ve run into him recently, haven’t been fantastic opportunities to catch up with him.”

“Oh, and Tim,” Dick started, “One more thing?” Tim nodded, prompting him to continue, “I know you don’t always get along, but would you maybe watch out for Damian when you’re in Gotham and I'm not?”

“I don’t think the brat _needs_ someone to watch out for him.” Dick gave him another one of those disapproving, yet acquiescing looks. “ _But,_ if you want me to, I can try not to be too harsh on him.”

Dick smiled again, “Thanks Tim, I know you don’t _like_ him," Tim wasn't sure about that one,  _did he dislike Damian still?_  "And you’re right, he doesn’t _need_ it but I don’t think he hates you as much as he claims to, so maybe it’d be nice if you’d take him to the arcade if you’re available or something? It’s only that I’m thinking now... Maybe I hadn’t thought as much as I should have about how when I’m away and you’re away--"

“I don’t think he’s ever missed me when _I’ve_ been away before.” Tim chipped in.

“Well, when _I’m_ away, he’s probably quite lonely. And I do think you’ve grown on him recently--”

“Because I exchanged with him spending time with you, for answers regarding yours and Jason’s relationship?”

“Well. _Yes,_ but it’s a start.” Dick laughed, and that answered Tim’s suspicion that Dick had been fully aware of what he was up to, “Sorry for making you figure it out yourself Tim.”

"It's fine, I didn't mind." He wondered briefly if he was being truthful, but no, he thought that was accurate, he didn't mind that Dick left him to figure it out for himself because he didn't do that out of not wanting Tim to know at all. If Dick hadn't told him to be secretive because he really didn't want Tim to know he'd have been hurt, but that wasn't the case, he didn't try to hide it from him, "But you  _can_ just tell me next time, I like to think I'm the least likely to react badly to these things."

Dick nodded and opened his mouth as if to reply, when he jerked slightly, “Oh, sorry Tim give me a second,” He lifted a hand to his ear and answered the message, “Yes, I can be there… About ten minutes?" A longer pause, and a coy smile gracing Dick's lips, "Okay, see you then!”

He turned to Tim, “Sorry to cut this short Tim, but I have business to attend to," Tim didn’t miss the flush across Dick’s cheeks, “But I’ll see you back at the Manor tomorrow?”

“Yes, of course,” Tim replied, “See you tomorrow.”

Dick stood up and was about to leap off the roof in a similar fashion that he had nights before, though stopped in his tracks as Tim smirked and added, “Have _fun_.” It was obviously not bat business that Dick was attending to. If it was Bruce calling in a job, they’d both have gotten the notification, because they were both free. That and the blush on Dick’s cheeks was all Tim needed to decipher that it was Jason on the other end of the line.

Dick's head whipped back around, an even deeper flush on his cheeks this time, " _Goodbye,_ Tim," Before he leaped off the platform in typical Nightwing fashion, leaving Tim smothering his snickering with his hands.

**Author's Note:**

> If you did read all of this, thank you! I'm rusty from having not written in a while, and it's been so long since I've published fanfic.


End file.
